A mobile robot guest for interacting with a human resident performs a room-traversing search procedure prior to interacting with the resident, and may verbally query whether the resident being sought is present. Upon finding the resident, the mobile robot may facilitate a teleconferencing session with a remote third party, or interact with the resident in a number of ways. For example, the robot may carry on a dialog with the resident, reinforce compliance with medication or other schedules, etc. In addition, the robot incorporates safety features for preventing collisions with the resident; and the robot may audibly announce and/or visibly indicate its presence in order to avoid becoming a dangerous obstacle. Furthermore, the mobile robot behaves in accordance with an integral privacy policy, such that any sensor recording or transmission must be approved by the resident.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A robot for regimen compliance management, comprising: a processor; a memory accessible by the processor that includes personal medication dosage information; a sensor capable of detecting the presence of a person within a detection range of the robot; a communication interface capable of generating a human-perceptible signal and receiving a compliance or non-compliance indication from the person; a drive operatively connected to the processor that moves the robot; a person-finding routine executable on the processor that instructs the drive to move the robot about the household checking the sensor for the presence of the person and to stop in a position next to the person; a scheduler routine executable on the processor that checks the personal medication dosage information for medication events, and when a medication event is anticipated, initiates the person-finding routine with enough time in advance of the medication event to traverse the household in time for the medication event; and a matching routine executable on the processor that sends a human perceptible signal to the person including information regarding the location of medication to be taken and guides the person to the medication.
2. The robot according to claim 1 , wherein the scheduler routine checks if the medication event is upcoming in a number of minutes, and initiates the person-finding routine to move the robot about the environment if the medication event is upcoming in the number of minutes.
3. The robot according to claim 1 , wherein the scheduler routine includes a verification step to check the identity of the person.
4. The robot according to claim 3 , wherein the matching routine causes the robot to establish a position next to the person when the person has been located and their identity has been verified.
5. The robot according to claim 4 , wherein establishing the position next to the person comprises establishing a position against a wall, or in a nearby charging dock, or in a corner of a room, or beside an arm of a chair in which the person sits.
6. The robot according to claim 4 , wherein establishing the position next to the person comprises awaiting the scheduled event after establishing the position.
7. The robot according to claim 1 , comprising an exercise compliance routine executable on the processor that performs exercise regimen compliance at one or more times as specified by the scheduler routine.
8. The robot according to claim 7 , wherein the exercise compliance routine causes the robot to display one or more exercises on a display device.
9. The robot according to claim 7 , wherein the exercise compliance routine causes the robot to link into a live exercise session.
10. The robot according to claim 7 , wherein the exercise compliance routine causes the robot synchronize its own motions with those exercise to be performed by the resident.
11. The robot according to claim 1 , comprising a therapy compliance routine executable on the processor that performs therapy regimen compliance at one or more times as specified by the scheduler routine.
12. The robot according to claim 11 , wherein the therapy compliance routine causes the robot to display one or more therapies on a display device.
13. The robot according to claim 11 , wherein the therapy compliance routine causes the robot to guide the person to particular equipment.
14. The robot according to claim 11 , wherein the therapy compliance routine causes the robot to link into a live or recorded therapist.
15. The robot according to claim 11 , wherein the therapy compliance routine causes the robot to take the resident's reports of status information.
16. The robot according to claim 1 , further comprising a robot-carried medication dispenser.
17. The robot according to claim 16 , wherein the human perceptible signal indicates the location of the robot-carried dispenser on the robot.
18. The robot according to claim 16 , wherein guiding the person to the medication comprises showing an animation or activating secondary indicia near the robot-carried medication dispenser.
19. A robot for regimen compliance management, comprising: a processor; a memory accessible by the processor that includes personal medication dosage information, the memory including postponement rules defining permissible conditions for postponing dosage; a sensor capable of detecting the presence of a person within a detection range of the robot; a communication interface capable of generating a human-perceptible signal and receiving a compliance or non-compliance indication from the person; a drive operatively connected to the processor that moves the robot; a person-finding routine executable on the processor that instructs the drive to move the robot about the household checking the sensor for the presence of the person and to stop in a position next to the person; a scheduler routine executable on the processor that checks the personal medication dosage information for medication events, and when a medication event is anticipated, initiates the person-finding routine with enough time in advance of the medication event to traverse the household in time for the medication event; a matching routine executable on the processor that sends a human perceptible signal to the person including information regarding medication to be taken; and a regimen compliance snooze routine that upon recognition of a non-compliance indication from the person, checks the personal medication dosage information and sets a new medication event in response to determining that postponing medication is compatible with the postponement rules.
20. The robot according to claim 19 , wherein the scheduler routine checks if the medication event is upcoming in a number of minutes, and initiates the person-finding routine to move the robot about the environment if the medication event is upcoming in the number of minutes.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
September 29, 2006
January 13, 2015
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